The Supreme Court has made it mandatory to file the Income Tax returns with Aadhaar and has asked people to get it linked with their PAN cards before March 31. But many pan card holders have still not linked to Aadhaar. Income tax return filers should rush to make the linkage. Or else, their PAN card may be blocked. Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Chairman Sushil Chandra said only 23 crore PAN card holders have so far linked their cards with biometric ID Aadhaar, which means more than half of PAN card holders are yet to get their cards linked.

The Supreme Court of India, last year made it mandatory for the income tax payers to file ITR with Aadhaar. However, the deadline for the process had been extended till March 2019.

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Here are the steps for linking PAN with Aadhaar:

Step 1: Visit – https://www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/home

Step 2: click on the option ‘Link Aadhaar’ under the section ‘Quick Links’ on the site.

Step 3: Provide all details like PAN, Aadhaar number, name as per Aadhaar, and captcha code.

Step 4: After that, tick the box which says ‘Request OTP’.

Step 5: Now, provide the mobile number and click on ‘Link Aadhaar’ to complete the process.

Why Supreme Court has made PAN-Aadhaar linking mandatory for income tax payers

Here are the reasons:

1. To eradicate fake PANs from system: The linking of PAN and Aadhaar will help in the removal of fake PANs from the system. It is important as many individuals and organisations have multiple PANs. The step will bring down the cheating cases against the government when it comes to paying taxes.

2. Tax compliance: The linking will ensure that income tax payers can’t hide transactions. Many individuals do not quote their PAN Id, when dealing in high-value transactions with an intention of hiding the same.

3. Perform document verification: The court mentioned that the linking will help in carrying smooth verification of personal information provided in the PAN application form. Presently, verification of data or original documents is asked or shown only in 0.2% cases.

4. Will curb black money: The linking of both the documents will ensure that details can be shared with other jurisdictions easily. It will also help curb black money and check money laundering.